“It hurts him that he’s not beautiful anymore. He thought we were mocking him.”
“Were you?”
She gave a single, low bark of laughter. “No way. We were terrified. The only good part is that there weren’t enough guards left to cover all the exits from Belenos’s house of horrors. That gave me an opening to beat feet. I bolted and never looked back.” With a suitcase full of cash.
Baines was chewing his lip. Humans never understood that monsters were people, but also monsters. They were misunderstood, just not in the way the dogooders thought.
Talia cleared her throat. “Now, do you want the evidence or not?”
He paled a degree. “I go with you. Otherwise it will be useless in court.”
“Agreed.”
“Am I safe?”
She looked pointedly at his gun. “As long as I am.”
There was every chance Baines could turn on her. He might even have a whole detachment waiting just outside the Spookytown border. She couldn’t know—but this was the best shot she had of getting justice for Michelle and freedom for herself. If she could help nail Belenos’s ass to the wall, so much the better. Humans might be useless against necromancy, but they had the weight of law and bureaucracy on their side. That had its own kind of relentless horror.
Baines nodded. “When we’re done, we’ll talk about that guy who jumped through the wall.”
Talia felt a pang, but if this was her night to set things straight, she couldn’t falter. It would break her heart, but she knew she’d have to make Max accountable for what he’d done. He was human. Baines was the human police. “I’ll tell you what I can. In a place of my choosing.”
The moment she said it, she felt like she was going to throw up.
“Are you all right?” he asked, real concern in his voice.
“Let’s just go before Lore gets back.” She cast another glance at the gun.
If things went south, she didn’t want him in the way.
This was her risk to take. He had a pack that needed him.
Chapter 26
Friday, December 31, 7:15 p.m.
101.5 FM
“And a Happy New Year’s evening to all you listeners out there in Radioland. This is Signy White, your pinch-hitting hostess for tonight on CSUP, your super supernatural station. Errata Jones is off.
“To begin tonight’s countdown to the New Year, it’s only natural to look at where we’ve been and where we’re going. There’s an election in three weeks that might bring us the very first nonhuman to sit on city council.
“Speaking as one of the Undead, it’s pretty exciting, but I want to hear from those of you who aren’t vampires. Do you believe that a bloodsucking city councilor will make a difference to Spookytown? Will he represent your interests?
“Put it another way: Will Michael de Winter be better or worse than a human? The phone lines are open. Cast your vote and let’s have some fun!”
Friday, December 31, 7:30 p.m.
University of Fairview
Not surprisingly, even the die-hard students stayed home from the university on New Year’s Eve. When Talia and Baines pulled up in his unmarked cruiser, the parking lot was nearly empty. A plow had been through, making just enough space for a few cars, but she was glad he had chains and a good heater.
A flash of the badge at campus security got them into Perry’s building. From there, the security guard led the way while Baines talked to someone on his cell about search warrants and witness statements. It sounded like he was trying to pass off their adventure as business as usual.
So far he’d been as good as his word. Every indication was that he would keep his part of the bargain. Fine, then Talia would keep hers.
There was yellow crime scene tape crisscrossing the door to Perry Baker’s office.
“Have you searched here already?” Talia asked, suddenly cold. Had the videos already been taken?
“We’ve done the place where he was hit, but there hasn’t been time for anything else. Too little manpower over the holidays. Too much else going on.”
She breathed a sigh of relief as the guard unlocked Perry’s office. The door had a nameplate and a hazard sign that warned students that their professor really was a monster—in this case, the silhouette of a wolf inside a red warning circle. All the carnivorous nonhumans had such signs on their office doors.
If Talia had rated a room of her own, her sign would have shown a bat. Stupid, since even the oldest vampires couldn’t fly more than a block or two—something she hadn’t mastered yet—and none turned into winged rodents. Go figure.
Baines was looking at his watch. Talia wondered if he’d had plans—maybe a New Year’s Eve dinner dance with his wife. If he had a wife. He’d said almost nothing personal on the drive over.
The security guard retreated, saying he’d check back on his next round. Baines turned to Talia. “Why do you think the professor was targeted?”
“I’m not sure. He’s not stupid, so I doubt he told many people what he was doing.”
She followed Baines into the office. He flipped the overhead light on. The fluorescents flickered to life, bathing everything in a harsh glare.
A laptop sat on the desk, hooked up to a large flatscreen monitor. Other equipment was everywhere—hard drives, a printer, routers, and boxes with blinking lights that Talia wasn’t sure about. It all looked untouched.
A thick sweater hung over the back of the chair, a tennis racket hung in its case from a hook on the back of the door, a basketball perched on a stack of books. Deli containers filled the trash can. Framed degrees and awards marched in rows across the wall. Young as he was, Baker had doctorates in math and computer science. He must have been a real boy genius, because he couldn’t have been much more than thirty years old. Talia felt a faint sting of nostalgia, thinking of her own years spent in study. Being back on campus made her yearn for the classroom, both as teacher and student. If only I could get out of this mess with my job.
If only was a dangerous game. She turned her attention back to the desk.
There was the usual clutter of papers, pens and a Dracula PEZ dispenser. Talia studied the drifts of paper, trying to guess what each heap was about. She picked up a box of flash drives and stirred them with her finger, wondering which one might hold the surveillance video she wanted. This could take longer than she’d thought.
“Hello, little duck.”
Talia started at the voice, freezing where she stood. Belenos! Her heart plunged, cold terror folding around her until she was drowning in it.
Baines took my knife and my gun.
He chuckled. “You’ve got to learn to pay attention. Leaving the door open like that? I thought a Hunter like you would know better. But then, you never were particularly wise.”
Talia forced herself around, bit by bit, as slow as if she were in a nightmare turning to face the monster. Oh, wait. She was.
“Where’s Baines?” she demanded, surprised that she’d managed to keep her voice steady. But she could hear the faint rattling of the data sticks in the box as her hand shook with fear. She set the box down. Wouldn’t do to advertise the fact that she was about to faint.
“Where’s Baines?” Belenos mimicked. “Where’s my money?”
